Hello

[Blue Gem]

hello to all,
Im a local blue mountain resident & wish to post a recent weird experience i had. Roughly 6 weeks ago, i was out mountain biking on a foggy day. i was on a fire trail not far off the highway, which led me to a lookout near some old power lines. i stopped hoping for the fog to clear to catch a glimpse of the view, and gave out a big "Coowee", as you do.. almost like a reaction, there was a loud deep snapping sound down the bottom of the valley i was looking towards, followed by a seconds silence. Then the noise started again, like trees breaking and thumping the ground but it was not making any sense to me, as the sound was coming up a pretty big hill towards me at a fast rate! the fog was thick with only a 20 odd mtr view line, I couldn't see the cause of the noise. it sounded a bit like a boulder rolling down a big hill, but the hill sloped up! whatever the cause, it was getting closer so i pedaled it out back to the rd. i arrived back at the gate on a ridgetop and sat there catching my breath when i heard the sound of water falling from the trees, (like when you bump a tree holding water on the leaves.. it was approaching up the ridge on my left, i pure s#@t myself by this stage and jumped on the bike. i went back to the site on foot with a friend and could not locate the exact area of the noise due to the size of the swamp we would've had to get through. we did however, find a few snapped trees around the area.. not sure what it was i heard, but im respectful to anything that makes that level of noise!!

[Dion]

Hey Blue Gem

As you most probably know the Blue Mountains is quite a hot spot for the Yowie, a lot of people have had their sightings and experiences there, I’m not surprised you heard what you did and it could quite possibly have been our hairy friend.

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forums.

[Neil Frost]

G’day Blue Gem,

Thanks for making the effort to report your experience. Although it wouldn’t have seemed so at the time, your description is typical of encounters experienced by many people, except that the dooligahl was more persistent and aggressive, which clearly suggests a male.

Many years ago, some friends of ours had a similar experience at Linden but, around midnight. On the last of their regular late night ventures, Brian and Pam heard trees being smashed on the opposite ridge. Calling out to the source, the immediate reaction was rapid running down the slope towards them. As the distance between them and the approaching sound quickly shortened, they made a very rapid sprint home.

Where did this happen? Any chance of posting a photo of the broken trees?

Thanks.

Neil

[Blue Gem]

Thank you Dion & Neil,
I'm not sure of the forum rules on posting locations, Is it ok to ? if so ill post a google maps pic of the exact spot. It was in woodford, sydney side. This tree shot was taken a couple of valleys over from where i had my experience, and on a different day. I am going back to get photos of the trees that were broken along the edge of the trail and post them on.

fresh.jpg

[Buck]

Hi Gem

It's hard to tell with the tree except that it seems that it's fallen up the hill rather than down the hill. If something wanted to get a possum or a bird out of its nest for food, this would be a way to do it. Particularly if you had another set of hands waiting to catch what ever you were trying to get out. Thanks for the photo's.

Did you find any walking tracks or game trails near the trees?

Cheers Buck

[topender]

Neil / blue gem

With regards to how Mr and Mrs Douligahl would get from say your area to the south side of the highway at woodford do they have to cross the highway or are there wildlife corridors that go under the road..ive seen them in many parts of the country to allow safe access for critters..these underpasses would be a good site for having a trailcam insitu


cheers

[Blue Gem]

Hi Topender,
I listened to an audio sighting on this site.. it was in the middle of the of night on the actual highway. The yowie ran off down a side street & into the bush. This was in woodford. So maybe they have flirted with the idea of crossing?? With an abundance of food ( fruit trees line the railway fences ) Water (lakes on both sides) and caves on both sides of the highway, i imagine it wouldn't be worth the risk. There are parts of the highway at linden (the thinest ridge on the highway), that look like it may be easy to cross undetected.

[Rusty2]

Hi Blue Gem !
Nice work with the pics . Certainly looks like someone wasnt happy with you .

Nice catch mate ! Rusty2....................

[Neil Frost]

G’day Blue Gem and Topender,

Thanks for making the effort to take the photographs. Much appreciated.

Throughout the mountains, there are regular reports from residents who have experienced something in the bush that concerns them. Today I spoke to a resident from Valley Heights who has had long term contact with their local dooligahl since 1997. The most recent encounter was during the recent heat wave, when very heavy breathing and other unusual noises were heard by multiple occupants outside their open bedroom windows, during the early hours. There has been a history of encounters, including sightings, at this location.

There is no need for the precise location of your encounter. A general idea is sufficient. There have been a number of recent reports from Woodford and these have also occurred during the day. One incident a few months ago involved the witness hearing heavy walking and branch breaking in the inaccessible swamp, which also resulted in a rapid exit from the area but, fortunately not involving a pursuit. Similar photographs to yours were taken sometime afterwards.

Crossing the highway and railway, despite the multiple security fencing, does not provide an obstacle to such an intelligent biped and even local adolescents have been known to achieve this task, although sometimes I wonder. The audio report that you listened to occurred adjacent to an overhead railroad bridge. Susan and her father saw the biped which was indecisive at the moment of the encounter, seemingly at the point of crossing the road and probably about to use the railroad bridge as an escape to the south. This happened at four o’clock in the morning and was perhaps the quietest time to attempt something like this. Another local crossing point is currently undergoing reconstruction. The former old bridge was most probably used for the same purpose as it was the source of many reports that converged on it. Tracks in the bush on either side of the old bridge were also consistent with dooligahl behaviour, particularly twig and branch braking.

There is also a well documented sighting at Valley Heights by Craig, in front of the speed camera on April 7, 2005 at 12:20 AM during patchy fog. Unfortunately Craig was not speeding on this occasion, as the RTA could have provided supporting evidence, however, the time and circumstances of the incident would have normally provided an undetected crossing. Nearby is a railroad underpass and a number of reports come from this area.

At Springwood there have been a number of reports centred on a street next to the railroad. Inspection of the security fencing does not show a breach but a partially worn track exits a dip in the terrain at the fence that suggests a crossing point by someone, something, or both. A sighting was made of a very large biped exiting the fencing and running across the road at this exact location by a woman in a car around two o’clock in the morning.

I hope that this helps. Please attempt some more photographs, particularly anything the seems unusual.

Thanks,

Neil

[Blue Gem]

Re; Neil,
I had no idea the place has had so many sneakng around at night! I suddenly feel surrounded
Fantastic info thank you. Absolutely blows me away actually. Not only to learn of there existence, but to hear about them in my local area is just awesome! I think i need a torch though! lol

[NoPolys]

Neil;

Great to hear you are still getting solid reports from your area !!! As always, I'm impressed with the number and the quality of reports you have stored in your head.... heheheheh.

I hope to see more of your thoughts, they never fail to inspire me.

Cheers
Nopolys

[Yowie88]

I want to move to the Blue Mountains; once knew someone who lived at Woodford of all places and recall many conversations about our hairy friend.
At first, I thought they we taking the mickey out of me when discussing yowies as they seem very casual about them. For example, one lady would say, yeah a whole group of yowies live in the valley near by (I should have said, lets go and have a look)

Then there is the freaky conversation I had with the Springwood Church Leader who told me of his encounter while in his car late one night. He was deadly serious, and it was at that point I did a Homer Simpson sound, "Doh", and thought to myself, these people are not taking the mickey.

With my wish to one day live in the Blue Mountains, there is a small chance of it happening as there is a large Council there. Need to firstly build up my professional
experience before I start looking for work.

I recon one day there is going to be a person on the GWH ready to take the money
shot and it will be all over the news for all to see, only a matter of time!